# Effectiveness

Doing the right things — choosing the work that actually matters.

Effectiveness is a measure of whether an organization is doing the right things — choosing work that advances the strategy and produces the intended result. Where efficiency optimizes how an activity is done, effectiveness governs whether that activity is worth doing at all.

Effectiveness is the prior question to efficiency. Effort spent making an ineffective initiative more efficient compounds the waste, because it invests in doing the wrong thing better. Prioritization is the mechanism by which organizations pursue effectiveness — deciding what matters most before optimizing how it is delivered.

### Commonly confused

Efficiency. Effectiveness is choosing the right work; efficiency is doing whatever work well — and the right thing done adequately beats the wrong thing done perfectly.

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